Before the explosion, police were in the process of confiscating five thousand pounds of commercial-grade fireworks from a private home in San Pedro.
A truck containing fireworks detonated on the street in a residential neighborhood injuring 17 people, including 10 cops, and now officials in Los Angeles are trying to figure out what went wrong.
“That device that those items were detonated and you saw the resulting damage and the total catastrophic failure of that containment vehicle,” said Michel Moore, Police Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officials say police were in the process of confiscating 5,000 pounds of commercial-grade fireworks from a private home in San Pedro.
The explosives were being stored in a bomb squad truck that, according to the fire department, was built with an iron chamber and pressure vented to contain an explosion safely.
However, officials say the truck didn’t quite live up to its expectations.
“Something happened in that containment vehicle that should not have happened,” Moore explains. “And we don't know why, but we intend to find out why.”
The LAPD said it doesn’t yet know what caused the explosion, but moments before it went off, officers on the scene can be heard in footage of the incident warning people that something was about to happen.
Ten officers and seven people nearby were injured by the blast and were taken to local hospitals.
A 27-year-old man was arrested at the home where the fireworks were found. Officials after the incident reminded the public that fireworks are not all fun and games.
“Every year, we see the devastation and destruction that causes fireworks are no joke," Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph Terrazas said. "You have to be careful."
